Can I disable the iPhone search function?

I'm both a swiper and a clicker. And I think Spotlight is a great app/function, wherever it may be located. (I'm not spoiled and I'm not complaining!)

Now, the problem I'm encountering is that the OS 3.0 dramatically slowed down the responses of my iPhone 3G (not 3Gs).

This slow response is causing me to inadvertently click 3x while trying to get to "home" screen. That is: double-click => no response; click again => iPhone counts three clicks (2 for "home" and 1 more for "search").

The same applies to swipe.

Message was edited by: Yoshipop

I'm with the crowd who would like to disable the search 'feature' as it is now. I am familiar enough with the contents of my phone that I do not need to use a global search function. Furthermore, I am tired of being directed to the Search screen when I mistakenly tap the home button too many times (due to the slowed response of the new OS) or by inadvertently swiping once too many times to the left. Having owned the phone for more than a few months, I was used to the setup the way it was prior to the new OS and Search feature.

I would really prefer an option to disable, or personalize, the Search feature. If it were an icon, I would be satisfied with that. If it required a certain type of swipe (check mark, or perhaps swiping up or down the screen rather than horizontally), I would be satisfied with that. Otherwise, the Search feature annoys me to the point I want to revert to the old OS.

To those of you who stated "I don't know what the big deal is", I hope there are features that annoy the tar out of you and when you ask how to resolve the issues, others simply reply "tough, I like it".

I've gotten in the habit of swiping left, left, left (how ever many times) to get to the Home screen.

You might try to retrain yourself to push the Home button to get back to the Home screen from whatever screen you're on.

Matt

I'm with you on this topic. It's a great feature and one that I use constantly on my laptop (spotlight). But on my phone, it seems out of place and I don't like having it in such a dominant spot.

It really should just be its own icon. Ideally, we should be able to program what the left swipe from home goes to (which I'd set it to address book or safari).

To all the people telling everyone to learn to love it, your rationale makes absolutely no sense to me. (and rather than typing a response, go learn to love your overheating 3GS batteries)

If you know of a way that prevents me from swiping to the right on the home screen and getting to the search screen, please let me know.

A discovery I made the other day is that if you do over shoot the home screen and end up in Spotlight, you can easily just swipe back to the Home screen. In other words, once you're in Spotlight, you're not stuck there.

Just a thought...

Matt

I'm in the camp of the OP on this one. I have yet to search my phone once since 3.0. I would like it to be customizable to act as it does now, or simply be an app button.

It's annoying (as is often the case here) if you don't just accept the way Apple decided something should be you are labled as spoiled. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

I'm a clicker. And I'm a swiper. I do both, and like both, and use them whenever they make sense, and even sometimes when they don't.

I use spotlight. Sometimes it's the fastest way to a contact's info if I'm at the home screen because I could (a) tap phone, tap contacts, scroll to contact, tap contact; or (b) tap home button again, type few letters of the contact name, tap the contact. (b) is almost always faster as the contacts are usually the first entries in the spotlight results.

I swipe to reach spotlight, or I push the home button again if I'm at home already, or push it twice if I'm at another page. Whatever I feel like doing at the time.

I don't find it annoying at all, but I can see that it might annoy others. So I agree that having it as an option with the ability to turn it off would be useful. Or make it an icon that I could put on my home page or any other page. Or put it in the info bar, to the right of the battery, you know, in the upper right corner of the bar, just like in OS X. THAT's where it belongs -- small, unobtrusive, but always available when you need it.

And frankly, I'd like the whole swiping pages thing to be rotary so that if I swipe left of the home page I end up at the last page of apps, from which I could swipe right to get back to home.

igrok-mac wrote:

And frankly, I'd like the whole swiping pages thing to be rotary so that if I swipe left of the home page I end up at the last page of apps, from which I could swipe right to get back to home.

+1 from me on the circular swipe!

tomkarl wrote:
I'm in the camp of the OP on this one.

There are going to be plenty who are not. But his question has been answered, you would do more to help yourself and him/her by posting [feedback|http://www.apple.com/feedback>.

I have yet to search my phone once since 3.0. I would like it to be customizable to act as it does now, or simply be an app button.

I think you guys are on a hiding to nothing with this one. But hey we'll see.

It's annoying (as is often the case here) if you don't just accept the way Apple decided something should be you are labled as spoiled.

That's a truly ridiculous statement. It's the same as anything else. A device is made to a set of limits, you have to make your choice within those limits. You have to accept the way All manufacturers decide their products are or you must modify them yourself dealing with all the associated pitfalls along the way, to breach those limits.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Of course you are. You can only post feedback and hope that someone deems the opinions good or overwhelming enough to action them.

Instead of swiping back to the home screen why not just click the home button? It will take you right back to the home screen not the search screen. That's usually what I do. I don't really care either way about the search function as I don't really use it, but I have scrolled one too many times on occasion and ended up on the search screen. So, now, rather than scrolling back, I just click the home button once and I'm home.

iPhoNettie

There currently is no way to disable it. I think everyone knows you can get back to the Home screen by simply pushing the Home button once - and you can return to the Home screen from the Search tool by doing the same. So why people are posting suggestions on how to use the phone is beyond me.

The point is, Apple should have provided the option to disable this feature, or, have made it into an icon application. Being a 3GS user, I feel the same way about Voice Control. It's annoying having to hold down the Home button to launch it. If I'm driving (which is when I'd mostly use VC), it's much easier tapping an icon than it is grabbing and holding down the home button.

These two features should be their own application icons, but customizable in the Settings panel on how to launch them. Similar to the "When I push the Home button twice, launch XYZ" setting.

I'd rather see Apple utilise their time for more important fixes (such as preventing deleted email from being discovered by spotlight) than turning a horizonal swipe into a circular one.

I've been the victim of pressing the home button or swiping one-too-many times. As traumatic as it was for me to contemplate what had happened, I just swiped back and breathed a sigh of joyous relief.

We never know, they may change it in a future update :/

I too will be putting in a request to have the ability to turn spotlight funtions on or off. No big deal but it really is annoying to me. I also wish they can go back to having a dedicated refresh button for Safari. Like it used to be. I must close the pop up keyboard maybe 50 times a day because I hit the space for the URL by mistake. Very annoying in deed!! Bad design comming from Apple. Surprising…